Woman Found Guilty In Axe Attack On Parents

GRA ND RAPIDS (WWJ/AP) – A western Michigan jury has convicted a 29-year-old woman of attempted murder for attacking her sleeping mother and stepfather with an axe and a knife.

A Kent County Circuit Court jury reached the verdict Thursday after less than an hour of deliberations.

Police say the couple was in their bedroom about 12:30 a.m. March 6, 2013 when they awoke to find Wilson standing over them, raising an axe above her head. Court records say Wilson told her 64-year-old mother and 74-year-old stepfather, that they were “going to die.” The attack happened in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming.

Investigators say Wilson then swung the hatchet and hit her mother in the shoulder, before attacking her stepfather, possibly with a knife, who received a chest wound. Injuries from the attack weren’t life-threatening.

Police say the stepfather was able to disarm Wilson, who ran and hid in the basement. The parents then escaped in their vehicle and flagged down a patrol car. When police returned to the house, Wilson was nowhere to be found. She was later arrested the same day.

A motive for the attack was never discovered and Wilson testified that she had no memory of what happened.

After the verdict was read, Wilson’s mother Pamela hugged Assistant Prosecutor Monica Janiskee, saying “it’s not easy,” the Grand Rapids Press reported. Pamela Wilson said she hopes her daughter will get the mental health treatment she needs while behind bars.

Wilson’s step-dad, Harold Clark, said he and his wife “pray a lot” for his stepdaughter, but “she needs help.”